These are some new photos of Christian Bale walking with his family in Santa Monica yesterday. Christian is usually pretty good at avoiding the paps, but they caught him anyway. He looks like the average family man here, right? Beard, sunglasses, bad shorts, and flip flops. He’s still carrying some of his American Hustle weight around, but that could be some sympathy weight for his very pregnant wife, Sibi. She looks pretty close to her due date, which will make 8-year-old Emmeline a big sister.
I was thinking about Christian yesterday in light of Gary Oldman’s inflammatory Playboy interview. Remember when Bale was considered trouble in Hollywood? There was some drama with his mom and sister, and Bale cut off contact with them. Then he was outed for yelling at a lighting technician on the Terminator: Salvation set. During the entire rant, Christian dropped plenty of f-bombs, but notice how he did not drop any slurs against minorities? That’s telling.
Christian has plenty of projects in the chute, including a couple of Terrence Malick films that will probably be Oscar-baity to the max. His name came up as a possibility for True Detective S2, but his publicist denied his involvement. Christian doesn’t seem like a good fit for television. He’d rather keep his nomadic, pap-avoiding lifestyle intact. Enjoy these pics of Christian because there probably won’t be too many for awhile!
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet
I still can’t believe no one noticed at the Oscars that she was pregnant. I didn’t watch, but I was looking through the pictures on PEOPLE, and there it was. Her dress was really ugly though.
And geez–his daughter is almost as tall as he is.
He has talked during the Hustle press tour how both he and his wife have no interest in fasion and wear whatever is handed to them.
Personally I think that he is beyond help when it comes to his clothes but Sibi is so pretty and could put in a little more effort in her fashion game. I, for one is a bit too tired to see her in black all the time.
p.s I just have to add that I really enjoy your posts, VC, whatever the topic.
I think these genetically gifted people are beyond the need to impress. This is a really gorgeous family. I live in a style conscious community and the overall attire here says money and hotness.
Of course when it’s an actress who’s gorgeous and she’s walking down the street wearing whatever — this site has to call her “frumpy,” “sullen,” “blah,” wearing a “sack dress” for Angelina Jolie — good lord.
But when it’s Christian Bale or some man, they can wear whatever they want.
I have mixed feelings about Christian Bale. But the double standards on this site, I swear.
(Not targeting you specifically, but just in general. Most of the comments on any Christian Bale or Tom Hiddleston post are positive, but actresses have to go above and beyond just to not be despised. I’m sick of the double standards.)
@ strawberry – I can’t speak for anyone but myself. Personally I have never commented any actresses’ clothes outside of the movie/tv show she is in or any work related event she’s at.
They are both so good looking that they don’t even need fashion. He looks better in T shirt and shorts than most do in a suit – and her smile outshines many a sparking gown.
I adore Christian Bale. And that girl is soo pretty.
I’ll always wonder how Siri manages to look exactly the same in every photo.
I love him for his talent, his (mostly) reticent style, and how much he seems to dig his wife and kid. His treatment of the tech on set was awful. I hope he learned from it and is kind to his crews. His daughter is lovely.
He is like marmite, i have a real sweet spot for him.
I want to hold his arm as we walk through Santa Monica… 😉 And I love his accent! I think he is very complex and interesting. I was even attracted to him in Hustle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_TygzsRdIs
I’m looking but I don’t see the extra weight on him.
+1
+2
+2
I was like, “What weight?!”
I don’t see any American Hustle weight left. I just see UNNNMFFFFFFFFFF
I need to go lay down for a bit.
+1000000000
Exactly!
aww they are such a cute family. His daughter looks really pretty.
I used to think that, then I read Lainey’s blind and now all I think about when I see them together is Anne Hathaway.
Bear in mind that Lainey’s “blinds” are written by a gossip columnist. She adds “sizzle” and “scandal” to them to overcompensate that she doesn’t know the people involved personally or the ins and outs of their relationships. Even if Bale and Hathaway had an affair, they could have been in open relationships with their partners, or temporarily separated from them. Who knows? Bottom line is she doesn’t know them and can’t judge.
I actually thought that it was Russell Crowe that Anne had an affair with. She filmed Les Mis right after TDKR.
That was an untrue rumor.
@brah
AH in an open relationship with her twinsie hubby? Please.
Also, he issued a genuine apology over the radio during the show that first released that audio tape of his outburst. We also have not heard anything since. The outburst was during the time Heath Ledger had died and he was doing premiers for Dark Knight. That same time was when he had the mix-up with his sister and mom. It seems to me there was a lot of personal stress during that time. I will buy the guy can be difficult and moody but it just seems like there would be more examples of him being a jerk if he truly was. Either he’s incredibly good at shutting it down (which I doubt) or he just went through a bad spot.
My thoughts exactly. He didn’t release a canned PR sorry. He called into a radio station because he was listening in.
And I actually listened to the ‘rant’…seriously. It read more like a lecture. Like my mom could out rant him, any day, based on that. When I heard that he was a huge a-hole because he cussed out some poor lighting guy, I went and listened to it. OMG. The way people went on and on about it, I was expecting him to be screaming at the top of his lungs. He wasn’t even breathing hard, and he sounded EXHAUSTED (not that that excuses him). But he sounded more like a disappointed parent, than a ranter. And honestly–I got bored half way through and didn’t even finish it.
He’s also mentioned that he and the tech have since worked together on other projects.
I think he felt truly shitty after it happened.
(Sadly, I cannot say the same about Oldman’s rant.)
I adore Christian. He looks great in these pics !
I cannot look at him without hearing him yell profanities to an underling in my mind. It was cringe inducing. If you are a person that thinks that’s normal– well I’m glad I didn’t grow up with that ranting behavior is all I can say. What was worse was the “oh he’s an ARTIST we should give to poor guy a break” attitude. It’s shows whats wrong with America in my mind! And I’m American.
I cannot look at him without hearing him yell profanities to an underling in my mind. It was cringe inducing. If you are a person that thinks that’s normal– well I’m glad I didn’t grow up with that ranting behavior is all I can say. What was worse was the “oh he’s an ARTIST we should give to poor guy a break” attitude. It’s shows whats wrong with America in my mind! And I’m American.
@Lena
I’m not saying that what he did is excused by the fact that he’s a famous actor. I’m saying that everyone is going on and on and on about how he just verbally flayed this guy alive, etc–so I was expecting a lot more. I was expecting to hear real anger (and assholery) in his voice–I didn’t hear that. I thought that he sounded really tired, and it was less YELLING, and more lecturing the guy…,.like he was talking to him like the guy was two years old.
Again–it was wrong. But I think that the media or whoever made it seem like he was screaming at the guy like Gordon Ramsay does in Hell’s Kitchen–and I do not see the comparison.
He didn’t yell at an “underling;” it was the Director of Photography, Cinematographer, who kept walking into the scene as if he were in fact a dayplayer who didn’t know better.
I love his rant and listen to the dance version of it someone made that is hilarious during my workouts. It’s called Bale Out.
He is my favourite actor. I agree with that Salon article naming him “the best actor of this generation.”
Virginia – I agree with you. I listened to part of it and didn’t think it was a fillet job. CB is a perfectionist and if he had to do something over and over because some guy who should have known better was causing unnecessary interruptions, I can see why he let him have it. Besides, he wasn’t yelling at a little kid, he was a grown man who probably uses the F-word on a regular basis himself.
I think he never had a good relationship with his mother.
The subtext with that situation with his family in the UK seemed to be, “I am rich and famous now, and they have come out of the woodwork.” It seemed like he didn’t have much of a relationship with his mom/sister(s). He’s always talked about Gloria Steinem very fondly, and I got the impression he saw her as his mother-figure.
Well, he was a child star. And I think any intelligent person who comes out the other side of that experience relatively intact wouldn’t have much use for the parents who put him through it. (Of course, I’m probably projecting.)
That’s how I read the situation too. Especially with the way the whole thing ended up being handled. There was this big announcement and accusation and then it just went away and nothing more was said.
I guess he had better relations wth his mum because he bought her a house and a car after Batman Begins .
According to his ex-assistant/publicist,his relation with his parents was complicated because he was their ticket meal ,their divorce was nasty and they disliked his wife and her family( whom he adores)
But he never hide he could be a jerk in the life
The tape was released soon after HL’s death. It was recorded much earlier though, in July 2008 acording to the Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/4446413/Christian-Bale-goes-ballistic-on-set-of-Terminator-Salvation-movie.html
He obviously wasn’t shooting Terminator while promoting The dark knight.
Heath Ledger died January 22, 2008. (Still get sad thinking about it)
The rant was recorded in July of 2008-It was posted on TMZ February 2, 2009
He had the fight with his mother on July 22, 2008 while he was promoting The Dark Knight. So yes he was shooting Terminator during the promotion of The Dark Knight.
Your dates are wrong and you obviously don’t like Christian Bale, which is of course your right. We have our likes and dislikes. However, with this and the comment above about Lainey’s blind, you’re just trolling.
*mic drop*
Thank you for clarifying Jaderu. I didn’t remember the dates exactly but I did remember very clearly what was going on when it came out. It is exactly as you describe. A perfect storm of events.
Ahh, you’re right, I got the years mixed up – for some reason thought for a second HL died in 2009 even though I usually remember it was 2008, don’t know why.
I don’t really care for him or know about him enough to really dislike him, just the Lainey BI left a bit of bad taste. Don’t see how bringing it up is trolling?
It may not be intended as trolling; however, it is trying to drudge up two negative things on a very private family who actually does a myriad of good things. The “rant” was what it was and certainly childish regardless, but it was not a diva chewing out an underling rather an unprofessional Director of Photography. As for the “blind” item, the reason it wasn’t mentioned further online is because it was in fact deemed false and libelous and was intended for publicity reasons by third parties who cared little about the effect of spreading false and hurtful rumors about decent people who neither court nor relish in the publicity at all cost culture of current celebrity.
I think it’s telling that there’s only this one account of him being nasty on set. It wasn’t the right thing to do, but he appears to regret it and it doesn’t sound like it’s happened again.
(I’m going to ignore him having a verbal argument with his relatives entirely because we don’t have much evidence as to what was said or what the conflict was about. Many people have difficult families, and if there is emotional abuse in the Bale one, it’s not necessarily Christian who is the abuser.)
I think it’s telling that they felt the need to record him. They weren’t just accidentally recording stuff that day–the insurance company asked them to do it. That leads me to believe that it wasn’t the first time he’d lost his temper like that on set.
@Lydia he was recorded because he was filming during a scene.
My guess was that he was exhausted by TDK promotion,the filming of Terminator and the fact that he knew the movie would be bad because of the script issues( it was also the week when they dropped the original end)
Absolutely agree with this!
His daughter is beautiful!
His wife looks nice and normal and friendly; I like that in a celeb. I’ve had a soft spot for him since Empire of the Sun, even if he is sort of the “don’t interfere with my craft” kind of actor.
The way she is smiling and looking like the paps and he isn’t makes me think he is whispering things to her to make her laugh.
I hope that is what it is, and it’s not that she’s actually happy about them being there.
No way is she famewhorish.
She does a ton of charity but no one ever finds out. For example, a while back I caught a pic of hers taken by someone on instagram working at one of those build-a-habitat charity event but no publicity whatsoever.
According to the french boss of paps agency X17,Bale was the first celebrity to menace to call the police when the paps were in front of his house in summer 2009 ( just before the new law against paps) and he called the police when some paps waited in front of her daughter’s school .
Not a fame whore bone in her body. I think they’re both one the very few who legitimately could not care less.
I always wondered why he was trouble as well. Outside of the Terminator incident, in which the director said he would love to work with Bale again, he had arrived on sets ready to work. You really only see him when it’s promotion time and he takes care of business on that end as well. He owned up to what happened on the set, none of that I am sorry you were offered crap. So yeah, why was he considered trouble.
It’s also never brought up that the lighting guy stayed on the movie and they worked together after the blow up for weeks, if not months.
He was considered trouble because he’s moody, hates publicity, and entertainment/internet commentators are lazy. As I said yesterday, if anything he’s evidence that not everyone says derogatory things in anger. He lost his temper big time…and said f**k a lot. Whatever. It’s totally gross to group him in with Mel or Alec. Top 10 celeb rants! *eyeroll*
I think he has always had a reputation for taking his work very seriously which is why I was so shocked when the audio rant came out and people turned on him so quickly. That being said, he does need to get over his whining about needing to do interviews. But he has always been a quiet, keep to himself kind of guy. I think he is probably quite shy which is why he can immerse himself so completely in his roles. He gets to pretend to be someone else. But that’s just my personal opinion.
I love Christian and have followed his career forever. I agree with what Tiffany wrote 100%.
I think the label stuck with him because he does not have the PR machinery that other celebs have to shut it down. I have the highest respect for him, because he says: “I like my personal life private” and actually lives by that statement, which is rare. Most celebs say it, very few actually do it. He is also Christopher Nolan’s golden boy and if he was trouble, he wouldn’t work with him.
LOVE Bale!
Emmeline is so big! Such a beautiful family.
How did I miss a post about The Bale?
He looks so good and so does Sibi. His daughter is almost as tall as him. And so pretty.She could totally become a model when she grows up.
Really, this post made my day.
His daughter is getting really tall and very leggy!
I didn’t know his wife was pregnant with their second child. I’ve always liked Christian as an actor and also as an adoring husband and father. I wish him and his family the best of luck as they await the arrival of their new child.
Agree. He’s a serious actor (“The Machinist” comes immediately to mind) as opposed to “celebrity” and seems like a dedicated and fiercely private family man. That outburst on the set seemed more like an aberration than the behavior of a self-important diva.
As he is my pretend husband I can assure you Christian knows he made a mistake because if he didn’t think so he’d never have called into a radio show and humbly apologized.
Also , as his pretend wife I can excuse his lack of pap whoring, tendency to take his job extremely seriously, and strong desire for privacy….actually besides that fact that he’s hugely talented and d@mn sexy as hell those are the reasons I agreed to his pretend proposal.
I do love this couple–I wish we saw more of them (but that’s just the nosy part of me). You don’t see much of them, but they’ve always seemed to be so into each other, and you know that they’ve got each other’s backs, thick or thin–I remember reading that he was basically broke up until he did Batman.
He can do no wrong in my eyes ever since he showed up to visit victims of the movie theater shooting…unannounced, unpublicized, he just went to encourage them. In my mind, that’s a good guy.
Echoing some other comments here. I never heard anything bad about him other than that rant and I’ve heard people (who were there or in the know of the situation) defend him in that apparently the guy he was yelling at was purposely being a douche and had been asked to cut the crap several times before CB went off. And CB still gave an honest, non-publicist, non-canned apology to that radio station.
I still love Empire of the Sun, and he was so wonderful in it. I really like him a lot and he and his family look really happy. Good for them.
Victim-blaming, much? Doesn’t matter what that guy was allegedly doing, there was no need to flip out like that.
He only apologized because he needed to save his reputation.
According to some people who were on set that wasn’t the first time the guy did something wrong. Christian Bale apparently said other times before to him to stop what his doing during the filming, but he did it again and that’s when Christian said these things to him.
I don’t know about you all, but I wouldn’t want to be doing something and someone come to interrupt what I’m doing.
Acting requires concentration, damn any work requires concentration because otherwise things can go wrong.
The apology seemed genuine, he called to a radio station he was listening. He acknowledged that he was wrong and said he and the guy solved in the same day, he didn’t ask the guy to be fired or anything else.
I think you have to understand that movie sets have tons of people working very long hours under time and money pressures. One guy who keeps walking through the scene while filming is wasting money, time and energy of a LOT of people. Yes CB was angry but human.
I am disgusted with myself for lusting after a man walking with his pregnant wife &daughter.
LOL, you pretty much summed it up 🙂
Thanks for the pictures, Bedhead, it’s been a while since I’ve seen any pictures with him (and his lovely wife and daughter). I don’t follow his everyday life, even though I’m a big fan, I’m content with the movies out there.
Furry and adorable! I like it! He has a gorgeous family and his wife look’s so happy. Life must be good 🙂
Furry and adorable, yes! Love this man and his family. I may be wrong and usually am but he’s had such a stellar film career I can’t see him doing t.v. again.
I can’t imagine either. Sometimes a new baby will compel a film star to make the move to tv, but Bale’s reputation is impeccable so he could easily opt out of everything for a few years with no damage done. I’m trying to think of another actor of his generation with such solid credentials and I’m coming up empty. I can’t wait for the Malik collab!
I’m sure Bale would be the first to admit he’s can be a temperamental, moody ‘artiste’, but he’s a good guy. It’s a shame that those not so interested in playing the game are then considered troublemakers. Sweet pics and such a beautiful family.
@Megsie. He has the longevity and talent to back up not playing the game. I am pretty sure he could have used his pull as a A lister to make trouble for the lighting guy. But it was what it was, apologies were said and business went on as usual. That is a professional and for some reason that makes you a troublemaker. *Sigh*
All I know is – he would be A+++ in True Detective 2, and also #calfmuscles grrrr.
True Detective 2 is kind of ruined for me ever since I read the rumour that their dream casting was Bale and Fassbender (!!!!!!!!!). Not going to happen but…damn.
Love him so so much as an actor since I saw Equilibrium, glad for him and his wife, looking forward to his new projects and… What else can I say? Will probably go and rewatch Empire of the Sun while waiting for news and pics from High Rise set 😀
That’s actually the first movie I’ve ever seen with Bale (besides Empire of the Sun, but I didn’t realized it was him until later, when I rewatched it during a Bale marathon-month) and I absolutely loved it.
Love Bale forever. He and his family look so sweet and low-key.
Love Bale, think he’s awesome. Has a lovely family. Totally on board with all above comments on the rant controversy, in that it was a stressed blip, not an offensive line in the sand… apologised for, moved on.
Hope all goes well for baby’s arrival and while I’d love to see more pictures of him, I’m happy not to, you know what I mean?
His daughter looks SO much like he did as a kid – think Empire of the Sun era.
Emmaline looks exactly like her Dad. She’s his “mini-me”…
Adorable and cool, all three of them.
…and about the rant episode, anybody can have a bad day at work. I’m inclined to cut him some major major slack.
It was despicable, atrocious behavior. A “bad day at work” we all have. And I hope you have better self control than to act like that when you “have a bad day at work”. But stars think they can act any damn way they please to anybody not on their “star level” because of our star forgiving culture that cuts people “major, major slack” when they happen to be celebrities
Put it in perspective. He had a hissy fit; he didn’t punch anyone.
I so forgive him for his Terminator rant because of this obvious love for his completely normal looking, not-famewhore wife and kiddos.
Cute little family. I have a weak spot for Christian Bale. Great actor and he does a lot of down low charity work….and he loves his wife.
Beautiful family..next up is “The Exidus, Gods and Kings” where Christian plays Moses..due in November